New Zealand Vacation Review: Hiking, Nature, Wilderness, History, Local Culture, Eight-Day Trip

My husband and I had no idea where to start planning our trip to New Zealand. Zicasso provided us with two tour specialists, and our tour operator had us from the get-go. The fact that he was French and had fallen so in love with NZ that he moved his whole family there was a plus. He really seemed to be personally familiar with the activities he arranged and the places we went.

I listed everything we wanted to do: nature, wilderness, adventure, and both islands in just under a month. He totally nailed it. He Zoomed and showed us videos of our accommodations, and all of them were well-situated. He offered to book something special for New Year’s Eve. (Unfortunately, that didn’t work timing-wise.) He insisted we try Ahi, one of the best dinners anywhere. He notified us of a cancellation (heli/hike/kayak on Mount Aoraki) due to weather and made a great suggestion that we enjoyed very much – a drive to Mount Aoraki through the park and a stop at Mount Cook Village to meet the person who was to be our guide. Sadly, he was not there, but I hiked up to the top lookout area in the rain and we did have a beer at the lodge. Then, to “make up” for the heli/hike/kayak cancellation, our travel agent found a fly-fishing guide with very little notice, and even got our correct wader shoe sizes the night before! Zicasso's travel partner was also readily available if we needed information. He was fantastic!